This book uses political theatre to trace the present-day protests in West Bengal against the Left government's acquisition of agricultural land for industrialisation to decades of public protest by the rural Bengali against an accumulated dispossession of meanings.
Acknowledgments PART I Introduction: Reimagining Development and Rural Political Action 1. Development Dramas and World-Historical Anomalies 2. The Work of Political Theatre in a Democratic Place 3. Political Society in Formation: Staging Early Critiques PART II 4. Spect-Actors of History 5. Spoiled Sons and Sincere Daughters: Schooling, Security, and Empowerment 6. Have They Disabled Us? Liquor Production and Grammars of Material Distress and Distribution 7. The Snake-Goddess and her Antidote: Compelling Collectivity Against Inequality and Uncertainty Conclusion References Index